Rupert Isaacson

Human rights activist, journalist and ex-professional horse trainer Rupert Isaacson was born in London to South African parents. He has travelled extensively in Africa, Asia and North America writing for the Telegraph, Esquire, National Geographic, the Independent on Sunday and Conde Nast Traveller, and has spoken at numerous venues on both sides of the Atlantic including The National Geographic Institute, the Edinburgh Festival and the American Museum of Natural History.

In 2003 he started The Land Rights Fund, a non-profit organization that has fought to restore tribal land to the natives of Botswana. This was the subject of his first book, The Healing Land.

Sponsored by The Autism Society of America, Isaacson has also set up a trust enabling monies generated by proceeds from his second book The Horse Boy to help create The Big Sky Autism School in Austin, Texas, where he now lives. This is a nature-oriented, equine-based program that also offers a curriculum for siblings of autistic children to become qualified carers and therapists. The Horse Boy has since become an international bestseller.